Essential Fatty Acids in Infant Nutrition

[摘要] This series of papers presents the most extensive and persistent efforts to date to determine the significance of so-called essential fatty acids in infant nutrition. The first paper in the series is concerned with the comparison of the levels of unsaturated fatty acids in the plasma with the intake of unsaturated fatty acids from the diet. The effect of human milk is compared to evaporated milk and prepared infant formulae. The larger intake of unsaturated fatty acids which occurs in the case of infants fed at the breast is reflected in higher levels in the plasma than are found with the various forms of artificial feeding. In the second paper in the series data are presented in support of the authors' contention that the intake of unsaturated fatty acids has an influence on the requirement for calories. The third paper in the series reports observations on clinical manifestations attributed to linoleic acid deficiency. Groups of infants were fed five different milk mixtures varying in the content of fat and linoleic acid. This paper reports observations on 27 infants who received only 1.4% of the calories as fat, .1% of the calories as linoleic acid. The infants developed dryness of the skin and other symptoms which were eliminated by the addition of linoleic acid to the diet.

[学科分类] 儿科学